Alyra Biotech collaborates with the following organisations:
A/Prof Susan Evans
MBBS, FRANZCOG, FFPMANZCA, GAICD, PhD
Founder, CEO, Gynecologist, Pain Physician
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A/Prof Susan Evans is a Gynecologist, Laparoscopic Surgeon, Pain Medicine Physician, PhD from Adelaide, Australia.
Dr Evans is the founder of Alyra Biotech, author of the book ‘Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain’, Chair of the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia, Member of the Advisory Committee for Australia’s National Action Plan for Endometriosis, Co-developer of the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis (PPEP-Talk) Schools Program, Co-author of the policy paper ‘The Pelvic Pain Report: The $6Billion Woman and the $600Million Girl’,
Dr Evans completed her PhD in the neuroimmune aetiologies of period pain, pelvic pain and endometriosis. In 2023 she was a finalist for Australian of the Year (SA).
Prof. Mark Hutchinson
BSc (Hons), PhD
Neuroimmunopharmacologist
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Professor Hutchinson is a Professor within the Adelaide Medical School and is the President-elect of Science Technology Australia.
Professor Hutchinson returned to the University of Adelaide in 2009 as an NHMRC CJ Martin Research Fellow and established the Neuroimmunopharmacology Research Laboratory. From 2005 to 2009 Mark worked in the world leading laboratory of Prof Linda Watkins in the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Here he pioneered with Prof Watkins the research which led to the discovery of novel drug activity at innate immune receptors. Mark’s research has implicated the brain immune-like cells in the action of drugs of dependence and the negative side effects of pain treatments. Mark has published over 130 papers in journals and refereed conference proceedings.
As director of the Centre for Nanoscale Biophotonics, and ARC Centre of Excellence, Mark oversaw $42M of funding committed for 7 years, headquartered at The University of Adelaide, with nodes at Macquarie University, Sydney University, RMIT, Melbourne, and global partners at universities and companies in Europe and the US.
Dr Annalisa Jenkins
Strategic Advisor
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Dr Annalisa Jenkins is a life science thought leader. She was previously Head of Global R and D at Merck Serono and SVP Head of Global Medical at Bristol Myers Squibb. More recently she led Dimension Therapeutics that she took through to a NASDAQ listing and a subsequent sale to Ultragenyx.
Ms Kathryn Allen
BA(Acc), CA, CTA
Business and Tax Consultant
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Kathryn (Kathy) Allen is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with over 30 years experience in providing tax and business advice to professionals and small to medium businesses across many industries. She is a director of accounting advisory firm Dewings Accountants, with a particular focus on accounting practice within the health care sector. Kathy works with a wide variety of professionals and businesses in this field.
Kathryn Allen is a Co-Founder, and was the Inaugural Chair of the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia. In these roles and in her current role as Treasurer and has helped drive and guide this charity through the difficult start-up phase. Her expertise has also guided the successful application and clinical implementation of government partnering within the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis (PPEP-Talk) Schools program with it’s focus on the pelvic pain needs of young women.
Kathryn has been Company Secretary of a manufacturing company and
committee member a variety of associations within the not-for-profit
sector. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered accountants in
Australia and New Zealand, the Taxation Institute of Australia, Family
Business Association and Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Kathy Harrison
Biopharma commercialisation consultant
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Dr Karin Innes
PhD
Patent Attorney
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Dr Karin Innes is an experienced Patent Attorney with FB Rice. Following completion of her PhD in Medical Biology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research she worked at Amgen Australia as a clinical research associate managing oncology clinical trials in all phases of development. In her current role she assists a broad range of clients in all facets of academia and industry with patent procurement and defence. Karin regularly advises on patent strategy, patentability and infringement as well as freedom to operate and due diligence analysis. Karin is a member of the Trans-Tasman Intellectual Property Attorney’s Board (TTIPAB) and committee member of The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ). She has also been endorsed in the IAM Patent 1000 prosecution highly recommended list for last two years.
Mrs Rachael Tippett
Clinical Trials Co-ordinator
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Mrs Rachael Tippett is a psychologist and scientist who has worked in the area of biopharma trials management, regulatory and administration for 23 years.
Finnish Team
Ms Nina Stenroos
Intrauterine device bio-materials expert
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Ms.Nina Stenroos has a very long (over 30 years) experience in Pharmaceutical industry in Finland.
She completed her M.Sc. studies in Turku University, where her focus was in Organic Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Pedagogy. Almost all her professional life she has worked at Bayer Oy (former Bayer-Schering, former Leiras), in Finland, focusing on the development of intrauterine devices for Womens Health.
Nina has a solid expertise of medical devices, polymer excipients and polymers like silicones. During her career, she has built up an extensive global network, including material suppliers, research centres and contract manufacturers. Additionally Nina had studies in leadership, like partial degree of eMBA from Turku School of Economics. She has used the acquired skills in different managerial positions as well as when collaborating external partners.
Dr Pirjo Kortesuo
Intrauterine device product development
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Pirjo Kortesuo has 30 years experience in Pharmaceutical industry in Finland.
She obtained her M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Turku and Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Helsinki, followed by Ph.D. studies at Orion Corporation, Finland.
Her research focused on the utilization of biodegradable silica matrix as a drug carrier system. Following the successful completion of her Ph.D., she transitioned to Bayer Oy (previously known as Bayer Schering Pharma and Leiras), where she dedicated a significant portion of her professional life.
At Bayer Oy, Pirjo primarily focused on the development of intrauterine devices (IUDs) for women’s health. She has a solid expertise of the entire product development process, from early feasibility and compatibility assessments to submission and transfer to production including the manufacturing of investigational medicinal products for clinical trials.
Additionally, Pirjo has a strong knowledge of regulatory and quality requirements for combination products. Throughout her career, Pirjo has established a wide network of connections with Finnish universities and research centers. Additionally she has also pursued studies in leadership at Bayer Academy.
